


Bludhaven Police Department

by Lady_of_Lorule



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Robin (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Titans (Comics)
Genre: Bludhaven Police Department, Brothers, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Nightwing Vol. 2 (1996), Police Officer Dick Grayson, Siblings, Tim Drake is Robin, Titans, Wally West is The Flash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26353573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_of_Lorule/pseuds/Lady_of_Lorule
Summary: Sgt. Amy Rohrbach learns that her partner, rookie cop Dick Grayson, is not what he seems. Or how Amy finds out that Dick Grayson is the heir to the entire Wayne fortune and meets some of the Batfam.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon & Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Amy Rohrbach, Dick Grayson & Wally West, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 84
Kudos: 1218





	1. Chapter 1

“Well, welcome to the BPD,” Amy said, leading the new recruit into the station. “I’m Sgt. Amy Rohrbach. I’ll be passing you off to your field officer in a minute. Lemme just show you around the floor first.”

The new guy nodded, nerves clear in the way he fiddled with his stiff, new uniform. Amy didn’t really pay attention to it. It was pretty typical for rookies to be nervous on their first days to be nervous, for a variety of reasons. This guy was part of the new batch, the first class to graduate since the earthquake in Gotham. He was one of the many people who’d made the move to Bludhaven after the quake, driving up rent and bringing a whole new host of problems to the already troubled city. Amy was glad for any help to the force.

“Morning, Officer,” a familiar, much too chipper, voice said as Amy was leading the new guy through the sea of desks. A grin stretched across her face as she turned to see her partner in her chair, feet kicked up onto her desk, although he was careful to not disturb her files.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

He gave her his usual charming smile that made the ladies at the front desk swoon. “I am working. But I finally caught up on my paperwork, so I thought I’d see if you needed a hand, partner.”

“Careful, or I’ll make you do all of it.” Then Amy realized she still had the new recruit hovering behind her. “Oh. This is the new recruit, Mason Smith. Smith, this is my partner, Officer Dick Grayson.”

Dick unfolded from the chair, rolling onto his feet with an unnatural grace, turning his charm on the new recruit. “Oh, hey. Nice to meet you.”

Smith, however, had gone wide-eyed and pale. He made no move to shake Dick’s extended hand. Amy frowned. That was far from the typical reaction to meeting her young partner, and Dick was clearly just as confused as she was.

“You’re Dick Grayson?” Smith said, an unidentifiable note in his voice.

“Um...yes?”

“Why the hell are you a cop in Bludhaven?”

Amy whirled on the new guy, fixing her best glare on him. “Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Smith rushed to say, stumbling over his words. “I just meant, aren’t you loaded? Why are you working at all, especially here?”

Amy blinked, trying to digest his words, then turned towards Dick. She expected (hoped) to see some sort of confusion or denial on his face, but instead he looked mildly annoyed, his jaw clenched and his eyes avoiding her.

“You’re rich?” she asked him, reevaluating everything she knew about her partner.

“Not exactly,” Dick said tersely.

“But you really are Dick Grayson?” Smith pressed, hesitant, but too curious not to ask. “ _The_ Dick Grayson?”

“What do you mean _‘the’_ Dick Grayson?” Amy interrupted. “Are you famous or something?”

“Not exactly.”

She crossed her arms. “I’m going to need a better answer than that, Rookie.”

“I’m not _really_ famous,” Dick hedged. “Not, like on a wide scale or whatever. But locally…”

“In Gotham.”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Dick grimaced. He clearly didn’t want to tell her, but luckily, Amy didn’t have to rely on him for the answer, because Smith was more than excited to tell her. He reminded her of a fanboy gushing about his favorite star from his eagerness, completely out of place in the police station.

“He’s Bruce Wayne’s son! You know, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, one of the richest guys in the world?”

Amy blinked. Blinked again. All of his words technically made sense, but strung together like that, she couldn’t understand it. Bruce Wayne. Bigger than real life, richer than God, playboy billionaire who was always on the cover of every magazine. Dick Grayson. His son.

“You’re Bruce Wayne’s son?” she asked, sounding so much calmer than her swirling inner thoughts.

Dick raked a hand through his hair. “Uh, yeah. Adopted.”

“Smith, that’s your field officer over there,” Amy said, pointing across the room. “Go get your assignment from him.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” the new recruit said, too starstruck to argue.

Dick’s hand shot out and caught the other rookie’s arm. “One sec. Do me a favor?”

“O-of course,” he stammered.

Dick released him. “Don’t tell anyone who my family is.”

Smith gave him his sincere word that he wouldn’t tell anyone else. Dick nodded, and then the new guy wandered off, shooting frequent looks back at the two of them. Amy waited patiently until he was far enough so that she could have this conversation solely with Dick.

He eyed her under his fringe of dark hair. “So...surprise?”

She snorted, throwing herself down into her chair. He perched on top of her desk, waiting for her response. “No kidding. So you’re really Bruce Wayne’s son?”

“Uh huh.”

“Now I’m even more confused. I already thought you were an idiot for joining the BPD, but now? I can’t even imagine why you’re here. Why aren’t you working for your dad’s company or mooching off him?”

Dick shrugged. “I went to college for two semesters. Took a few business classes and the like. I hated it. I hated it so much that I dropped out, pissed off Bruce, and cut all ties with Wayne Enterprises. I don’t like relying on him for money, either, so I got a job.”

“But you’re his heir, right?”

He grimaced, looking away from her. “Yeah, I guess I am. We’ve never really talked about it.”

Amy let out a long, low whistle. “This is so crazy. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to think.”

“Are you mad?”

She paused, looking up at him. He couldn’t even look at her, but he was moving his hands restlessly, twining his fingers and tapping on his legs. There were a few things she knew for sure about Dick Grayson after working with him for a few months. One was that he had atrocious eating habits, full of sugary cereal and cheap takeout. Another was that he was oddly secretive despite being such a friendly person (although now she knew why). And a third was that he only played with his hands like that when he was very anxious.

“Dick,” she said gently, waiting until he looked at her with his deep, blue eyes. “I’m not mad. Shocked? Definitely. It’s not exactly a common occurrence to find out my rookie partner is ridiculously wealthy. But it doesn’t change the fact that I like having you as a partner.”

“...Thank you.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t have like, a gazillion questions, though,” she warned him.

That startled a laugh out of him and she grinned in victory. He smiled at her, bright and relieved, and said, “Noted. Fire away, I guess. I just have one request in exchange.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Don’t tell anyone else.” He rolled his head back. “I’ve spent most of my life in Bruce’s shadow. I had to move across the bay just to get out of it, and I’d like to keep my independence for however long I can.”

“You make it sound like you’ll get dragged kicking and screaming back to Gotham if people know you’re here,” she teased.

His gaze was cold as he looked back at her. “If people knew that the heir to Wayne Enterprises was a rookie cop in Bludhaven, I’m not sure who would show up first: the paparazzi or the people who would kill me to get back at Bruce.”

Her eyes widened. “Shit.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve been living with that fun fact hanging over my head since I was eight.”

“That’s messed up.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. I’m used to it by now. That’s part of why I left Gotham. Everyone recognized me there. I couldn’t even get coffee without getting hounded.”

“But why Bludhaven? Why be a cop?”

“It’s...complicated. I came here on family business, and I ended up staying. I wanted to help this city. I mean, I spent most of my life in Gotham, and this place is almost worse,” he said, the corners of his mouth tilting up. “So I thought I’d sign up, clean up the city myself. I decided to become a cop.”

Amy eyed him. “How does Bruce Wayne feel about his son being a cop?”

“He is...not happy, but he’s trying to respect my wishes. For now.”

“That’s ominous,” she said, flicking an eyebrow up at him.

“Let’s just say that when my life gets messy, it’s a whole different level of messy than most peoples’.”

She accepted that. They may be partners, but she wasn’t entitled to pry into something he clearly did not want to talk about, judging by the way he edged around giving a straight answer. She decided that she could continue her interrogation later, when they were stuck in a squad car together and she had had more time to organize her own thoughts and feelings.

“Fair enough. Go grab us some coffee, rookie,” she ordered, turning back to her files and ignoring the attractive man sitting next to them. “We need to get some work down before we gossip anymore.”


	2. Chapter 2

Amy felt like death.

Not only had her shift been changed to start three hours earlier, she’d already been up all night dealing with an active shooter in the Spine, the heart of the downtown district. She had only gotten three hours of sleep before slipping back into the uniform, and she’d never wished more for the warmth of her bed. Still, she came to work, an over-caffeinated drink in hand.

As she strode into the precinct and looked across the room, she could see that her partner hadn’t made it in yet. Great. She’d been counting on his unnatural talkativeness to keep her awake. He better get in soon, or she was going to storm over to his apartment herself to drag him out of bed. If she wasn’t getting any sleep, then neither was Dick.

“Excuse me,” a timid voice said, working through the sludge in her head. “Are you Sgt. Rohrbach?”

She looked around and didn’t see anyone. She blinked, and looked down. At her elbow stood a kid, a boy with dark hair who couldn’t be more than fourteen years old. He was wearing oddly nice clothes, a sweater that looked expensive and jeans that fit a little too well to have been bought off the rack. He was pale, with blue eyes and a somewhat delicate face. 

In other words, she didn’t recognize him at all and she had no clue why the hell he was here, talking to her.

“Yes, I’m Sgt. Rohrbach,” she answered automatically. “Who are you?”

“Oh! I’m Tim,” he said, a light blush coloring his high cheekbones. “Tim Drake. You’re Dick’s partner, right? He talks about you a lot.”

“I...am. How do you know Officer Grayson?”

“He’s my brother.”

Oh.  _ Oh shit.  _ If this kid was Dick’s brother, that meant that tiny little Tim Drake was really Tim Drake-Wayne, the other adopted kid of billionaire Bruce Wayne. It meant that a billionaire’s kid was in a police station in Bludhaven. In another city, that was probably the safest place for such a high kidnap risk kid, but the cops in the ‘Haven were no saints. He’d been smart to leave off his real last name. That still didn’t mean he wouldn’t get recognized by the new cops who’d transferred or moved from Gotham to Bludhaven after the quake.

“It’s nice to meet you, Tim,” she said, careful to conceal her concern. “Are you here by yourself?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Dick told me to meet him here, but I haven’t seen him. That’s what I wanted to ask you. Do you know where he is?”

“He should be on his way.”  _ If he hadn’t slept through his alarm again,  _ she thought. “How about you hang out with me while we both wait for him?”

“Sure. I mean, if you’re not too busy,” he tacked on hastily. “I wouldn’t want to interfere with your job or anything. I can entertain myself.”

“No, it’s fine. I’d rather get to know Dick’s family than do more boring paperwork.”

No way was she letting this kid wander around the precinct or, god forbid, the city, by himself. Crime in Bludhaven was twenty-four seven. Some idiot with a gambling debt would be foolish and desperate enough to grab him even in broad daylight.

“Okay,” the boy agreed.

“Great. Right this way.”

She led him past the receptionist’s desk and into the sea of desks. The kid was like a shadow behind her, silent and unobtrusive. An odd quality for a rich kid, especially given the fact that Dick had mentioned off-hand once that he was often dragged to galas and charity events with his family. She would never guess that any relative of Grayson’s could be so quiet.

“Go ahead and sit here,” she said, gesturing to her own desk chair. He thanked her and sat, back straight and hands neatly folded. She snagged a chair from a rookie on patrol and sat next to him. At first she slouched, but she straightened when she realized she had worse posture than a fourteen year old.

“Is everything okay? You seem tired and Dick isn’t usually late.”

She flicked up an eyebrow. “I’m not hiding it as well as I thought, then. Everything is fine now. There was a late night situation. Your brother is probably just tired, too, and running a bit late.”

“Oh. He didn’t get hurt, right?”

“No, of course not,” she assured him. She could see the relief flash across his face before he schooled his expression. “He wouldn’t be coming in today at all if that were the case.”

“Oh. I just wanted to be sure. He can be kind of stupid when he’s injured.”

“Trust me,  _ I know.”  _ They shared a grin, bonding over the shared exasperation for Dick’s less than stellar self-care skills. Then she took a sip of her coffee as Tim retreated into himself again. “Has he always been that way?”

“I...think so. I’ve, uh, only really known him two years, so I can’t personally attest to his childhood. Bruce makes it sound like he’s always been pretty reckless with his health, though.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly. “I didn’t mean to assume—”

“It’s okay.” Tim’s lips turned up in a wry smile. “I don’t mind that kind of mistake. Dick and Bruce are my family, even if I haven’t actually been around all that long.”

“Your brother doesn’t make it sound like that. He talks about you a lot.”

The kid’s head snapped up, surprise bleeding through his calm mask. “He does?”

“Oh yeah. I feel like half the time we talk all he does is babble about how excited he is to hang out with you this weekend or how proud he is of how well you’re doing in school. I can hear how much he loves you.”

A red blush crawled over Tim’s cheek and he ducked his head. Amy hid her ridiculous grin by taking another sip from her coffee. God, this kid was cute when he got flustered. It totally undermined his put together, well-bred appearance, turning him into a shy mess. No wonder Dick never shut up about him.

“Dick is a really cool big brother,” Tim murmured when he finally pulled himself back together enough to form words. “He’s...the best.”

“Seems like it, if you came all the way to the ‘Haven to be with him.” She decided to spare the kid some more embarrassment and to sate some of her own curiosity. “How did you get here, anyways? You’re a little young to drive, aren’t you?”

“Alfred, our butler, dropped me off. He had some business in Bludhaven.”

Right. Their butler, because they were that freaking rich. For the millionth time since she found out who Dick really was, she wondered why he was working as a cop for terrible pay. Despite his knight in shining armor complex, there had to be better things he could be doing with his life.

“What’s that like?” Amy found herself asking. “Having a butler and stuff, I mean?”

“Oh. Uh, good, I guess. I’ve never really known anything else.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. Just meeting you,” she waved a hand in his direction, as if to encapsulate him in his immaculate clothing and neatly combed hair, “it makes me wonder even more why Dick is a cop.”

An odd smile appeared on Tim’s face. “Trust me, everyone’s been asking Dick that since he first announced he was going to the police academy.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. Dick’s never really had a job. He held more of a... _ volunteer  _ position. And, of course, Bruce was against the idea, which is usually when something like this would stop. But Dick’s really stubborn. He did it anyway and kind of blindsided everyone, friends and family.”

“He has friends?”

Tim laughed again. The sound burst out of his chest; it was quiet, but sincere. “Yeah, he has friends. Uh, most of them don’t really live around here, though, so you probably won’t meet them.”

She accepted that. Sure, it was a little unusual that a guy as young as Grayson didn’t have more friends or girlfriends who she heard about, but it might just be one of his quirks, like how he hadn’t wanted her to know he was rich. His friends were probably diplomat’s children and other trust-fund types. Amy could live without those in her life, even if Grayson was okay, and Tim seemed pretty good too.

“Timmy!” a loud, familiar, and too-perky voice shouted from across the office.

Amy and Tim turned in unison and with matching expressions of mixed amusement and annoyance as Dick made his way to them, ramming into two different desks and nearly tripping over his feet in his haste. For someone she’d seen vault effortlessly onto a rooftop from street level, he could be really oblivious to his surroundings sometimes. Still, within seconds the man was in front of them, grinning and disheveled, his top buttons undone, hair mussed, and jacket tossed over an arm haphazardly. He only had eyes for his little brother.

“Sorry I’m late. You okay?”

The teen grinned, looking oddly shy now, like he didn’t want his brother to know how excited he was to see him. Amy raised an eyebrow. Seemed the kid had a bad case of hero worship for his big brother. Not that she could blame him.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Amy has been keeping me company,” he said, offering her a small smile. She grinned back easily.

Dick slanted his eyes to her. “Do I want to know what you told him?”

“You’re not  _ that  _ late, Grayson. I haven’t had the chance to tell him any of the really embarrassing stuff yet.”

“Thank God for small mercies,” he murmured, before turning to his brother again, bright as the sun. “So what brought you here, kiddo? You mentioned something when you called?”

“Richard Grayson,” Tim said in a faux official voice, standing up and digging something out of his pocket. He held out a heavily embossed card. “You are formally invited to the annual Wayne gala fundraiser, this Saturday, at Wayne Tower. It is a black tie event and your presence  _ is  _ mandatory.”

“Damn,” he swore, even as he accepted the card, tossing it down onto his desk without even looking at it. “I hate those things.”

“You and me both. Bruce sent me with the invitation because he knew you would’ve turned him down.”

“Well, he’s not wrong. Still, I expected better from you, Timmy. Shouldn’t you be on my side?”

The teen shrugged. “Normally, yes, but I have to go to this thing too and I refuse to suffer alone.”

“Brat.”

Dick snagged his little brother around the neck and ruffled his hair. Tim complained, squirming to get away, but Dick was unrelenting. Amy had to hold in a grin as she watched them grapple in that way that only brothers did. It was adorable, made even more so when Tim finally freed himself and started straightening his hair, as if there was any chance of repairing the damage.

“Okay, fine, fine, I’ll be there. I, uh, don’t have a tux though. My last one...let’s just say that it’s not fit for a gala this prestigious.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why Alfred should already have dropped off a new suit at your apartment. You’re welcome.”

Dick’s eyebrow flicked upwards. “How do you always know everything?”

“I have a redheaded friend.”

That non sequitur meant absolutely nothing to Amy, but Dick let out a bark-like laugh.

Then Amy noticed the time. “Hey, Rookie, I hate to break up the family bonding, but our patrol starts in ten.”

His face fell, but Tim just waved a hand. “It’s fine. I have to go. Alfred’s here.” He pointed across the office.

Amy instantly knew who Alfred was. The elderly gentleman in a neat-pressed suit stood in the lobby, patiently waiting, but his gaze was definitely on the three of them. He looked like an old-timey butler in a black-and-white movie. Seriously, what was their life?

“Oh. Okay. I guess I’ll see you this weekend, then,” Dick said, trying to hide his frown and failing.

Tim laughed. “Maybe sooner. I have some...homework, I might need help with.”

“That’d be great. Come on, Amy and I will walk you out.”

Amy and Dick grabbed their last belongings from their desks (and another cup of coffee) before leading Tim back to the lobby. Amy hung back as the two brothers greeted the butler.

“Hey, Alfie,” Dick said with his usual cheer. “Thanks for bringing Timmers all the way out here.”

“Of course, Master Dick. The suit is hanging in your closet, and I trust it will remain wrinkle-free until this weekend, and there are a few leftovers in your fridge.”

“He means three-course meals,” Tim whispered in a fake-conspiratorial tone. Dick grinned while Alfred sniffed imperiously. “He worries that you’re not eating properly.”

“I am well aware from his years as my charge that Master Dick considers boxed cereal with artificial marshmallows a well-balanced meal.” He checked his watch. “We had best be going, Master Tim.”

The teen nodded. He darted in quickly to get a hug from Dick, who grinned and dropped a kiss to the top of his head. When he pulled back, he looked over at Amy, who was leaning on the secretary’s desk and sipping coffee.

“It was nice to meet you,” he said.

She raised her coffee. “You too, kid.”

“Bye!”

He left. Dick then pulled the butler into a hug, clinging to him for a moment. Alfred stroked his dark hair before stepping back, giving him a proud smile.

“Take care, my boy,” the butler said, and then walked out after Tim.

Dick came and stood next to Amy, wordlessly taking her coffee and taking a sip. She examined his profile for a moment.

“You really love your family, huh?”

“Of course. They’re everything to me.”

“I didn’t know you were so close with your butler.”

“He’s more than just a butler. He practically raised me. He’s probably my best friend.”

Amy smiled. “That’s sweet. But no more stalling. Patrol time. Don’t think I haven’t forgotten that you were late.”

He rolled his eyes, drained his coffee cup, and then threw it into the trash. “Sir, yes, sir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I have this story marked as complete because I don't have any more chapters right now, but I might add more in the future, so keep an eye out!


	3. Chapter 3

“Okay, I’m heading out,” Dick declared, slumping back in his chair and flicking his pen. It landed perfectly in the cup, somehow.

Amy glanced over at her partner. He looked handsome, like always, and ruffled, which was also common, except that today, it wasn’t his usual accidental dishevelment, but an exhausted one. His blue eyes were dim and ringed with dark circles, his hair limp against his forehead. She’d been dropping subtle hints all day that he should go home and rest, but he’d stubbornly ignored her.

“Go get some sleep, Rookie,” she said with a soft smile. “Captain’s orders.”

He snorted, unfolding in a display of long legs. “You’re going to be using that joke a lot, aren’t you?”

“Who said it’s a joke?” she answered, still smiling.

He shook his head in bemusement, gathering his jacket up and waving goodbye with a two finger salute. She watched him walk out of the station, her shoulders suddenly free of tension she hadn’t realized she’d been carrying. It was always that way, on the days that Dick looked like he’d fall fast asleep if his eyes closed for more than a second. He was usually so alert and energetic (almost too energetic) that when he wasn’t, the difference was startling.

Still, he was going home now, and hopefully would get some sleep. Especially because she knew he wouldn’t be skipping his _nighttime work_ either. She wondered for the millionth time how he stayed awake so long and got so much done. How much does he really sleep? Does he sleep at all?

“Captain Rohrbach?” Amy lifted her head to see one of the many new rookie cops next to her. She waved a hand and he continued. “There’s a man here to see you. He’s waiting in your office.”

“Who?” she demanded, getting to her feet.

The rookie shrugged and walked away. She resisted the urge to scream at him. Great, now she would have to brief all the rookies about letting _unknown_ men into their _captain’s_ office right after the last chief had been _murdered_ in _his_ office.

She walked down the aisle through the desks, heading towards her new office. Officially, she did all her work there. Realistically, she could more often be found at her old desk next to Grayson’s. What? He was good company and could make even paperwork entertaining if he wasn’t chronically sleep deprived.

Her door was cracked. She walked up to it carefully, her hand moving to the gun at her hip. With a deep breath to settle her nerves, she peeked into the room, scanning for any signs of ambush.

Her hand fell when she was only met with the sight of a dark head of hair sitting in the chair before her desk. She let her hand fall and walked in, shutting the door behind her. The man stood to greet her, holding out a broad hand and offering a dazzling smile that graced the cover of every magazine on the East Coast.

“Captain Amy Rohrbach. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Bruce Wayne.”

She clasped his hand and looked up at him, which was annoying. As a rule, she didn’t like to have to look up to people. He didn’t look this tall on the magazines, nor this broad-shouldered. She had a weird moment where she thought that the family resemblance was strong before remembering that Dick was adopted.

Thinking about her partner also reminded her that the man standing before her was the most famous and feared vigilante on the planet.

“I’m...surprised to see you here,” she said after a moment, moving around the desk to sit down. He did so too, one ankle resting casually on his knee, the portrait of wealth and grace. He looked like a socialite, not a man who dresses as a bat every night to beat up criminals. “Dick’s already gone home, so if you were hoping to see him—”

Wayne shook his head. “I’m not here to see Dick. He doesn’t know I’m here.”

“...Oh? Then I’m not sure what I can do for you, Mr. Wayne.”

“Let’s not pretend, Captain. I know that you are aware of the unusual occupation of myself and my family.” Her eyes flicked to the door and the windows, which luckily had the blinds drawn. Wayne noticed. “Don’t worry. I made sure the room was secure before you entered.”

She turned her attention back to him. “What is this?” she asked bluntly.

She wasn’t sure, but it seemed like something like approval flickered across his face. “I’m here to make sure that you can be trusted. I appreciate the work you have done to keep Dick safe these last few months, and Tim has vouched for you as well, but I haven’t gotten where I am in life by allowing people to have such dangerous information about my family.”

Shit. Batman was really sitting in front of her, vaguely threatening her. In all of Amy’s years of life and experience as a cop, she could never have predicted being in this situation. She’d only figured out that Dick was Nightwing two weeks ago, and she’d only (barely) come to terms with that a few days ago. She was in no way prepared for this moment.

“Sir, I want to assure you that I would never do anything to harm Dick or your family,” she said, because that seemed like the most important thing to say. “Dick has saved my life...so many times. More than I probably even know. And he’s saved my husband and kids. I’m sure I don’t have to explain to you how much that means to me.”

It worked. Her appeal to his familial bonds softened him. Not much, but enough.

“No, you don’t.”

Amy nodded. “Honestly, sir, the less I know about...your family business, the better. I’m a public servant, first and foremost. I have no plans to stop being a cop. I’m aware of the working relationship you have with the police in Gotham, but this is Bludhaven. It doesn’t work that way here.”

His expression didn’t change. “I understand, and regardless, I wouldn’t put you in such a compromising position. If it was up to me, you wouldn’t know anything. Unfortunately, you do. But Bludhaven is Dick’s city, and I try to respect that. I’m only here because…”

“Because he’s your son,” she finished. Wayne’s eyes snapped up to her, and he couldn’t hide his shock fast enough. She smiled. “Like I said, I’m a mother. I understand worrying about your kids.”

“Hm.”

He fell silent, and she took the chance to say, “Can I ask you a question, sir?”

“Bruce. Call me Bruce.”

She hid her surprise at the offer. Oh God, her husband was going to freak out when she told him she was now on a first name basis with _Bruce Wayne._ This was unreal. Though no more unreal than finding out her handsome, young rookie partner was really a dangerous vigilante who used to work with Batman. She wondered if she’d ever stop being surprised by all of this stuff, this whole other world of law and justice and crime that she’d never been privy to before.

“Bruce. May I ask you something?” He nodded his approval. She squared her shoulders. “Dick told me months ago that you disapproved of him being a cop. And now that I...well, know, I just need to ask: why don’t you like him being a cop?”

“That is a very specific question,” he commented, but it wasn’t quite a rebuke. He took another moment to answer. “I know it must seem hypocritical to you. But his night work is safer, in a way. When he’s here, wearing a badge, he’s restrained. He can’t be _too_ good, he can’t know _too_ much. It’s a different method of operation than the way he’d done things for more years than you would believe, which makes it a danger to _him.”_ Wayne— no, Bruce— sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And I’ll admit that at least partially my disapproval comes from the desire to not have to worry about my son getting shot twenty-four hours a day.”

She blinked. “That all seems...very reasonable.”

“You sound surprised, Captain.”

“Amy,” she corrected, figuring it was only fair. His head dipped in acceptance. “And, well, Dick made it sound as if your disapproval was unfounded or based on control issues.”

Bruce grimaced. “I’m...not surprised.” He stood. “I have to go now. Thank you for talking with me, Amy.”

“Of course. You know, you have a pretty great kid.”

She knew the smile on his face. It was parental pride, the fierce, burning kind that couldn’t be matched by anything else.

“I know.”

He offered her a quick bow of his head and then slipped out of her office. In his nondescript clothing, he walked through the office without drawing any attention to himself, despite being a celebrity. It was really incredible at how well he blended in.

Amy sighed and dropped her head into her hands. Oh God, Dick was going to freak when she told him about this little visit.

She decided to wait until tomorrow. Partly because he was probably asleep and she didn’t want to wake him, and partly because she needed a few more hours to sort herself out after meeting the _goddamn Batman_ and getting on a first-name basis.

And she’d thought dealing with that drunk guy down by the dock two days ago was going to be her craziest moment of the week. Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got so much positive feedback for this last chapter, so I had to add this one! Thank you all so much for the comments and the kudos!


	4. Chapter 4

“How do you keep your identity a secret?” Amy demanded, hands on her hips and eyes spitting fire.

Dick had the good grace to look sheepish. He looked oddly casual, which she probably should have expected since they were in his apartment, but it was still messing with her a little. She’s never seen him out of a uniform, whether it was his official or unofficial one. But here he was, hair tousled, faded T-shirt boasting the cursive words  _ Haly’s Circus  _ and sweatpants with thick socks.

But her more immediate concern was the crumpled Nightwing suit laying on the floor of his living room.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone,” he said.

“And if someone, say, like me, the  _ captain of the police,  _ showed up, what exactly was your plan?!”

“Amy, I’m sure you’re making a very valid point, but it’s fine. This apartment is rigged with better security than the White House. No one is getting in here without my permission, and if they do, they probably already know my secret.”

She made an unimpressed noise. She crouched down by the uniform and picked it up. It’s weight took her by surprise. It was much sturdier than she was expecting, considering how tightly it clung to Dick’s body. She turned it over and then snapped her head towards Dick.

“Is this blood?!”

He stared at her. Blinked. And said, “No…?”

She shot to her feet. “Are you hurt? What happened? Wait, don’t actually tell me. But are you hurt?”

“Amy, Amy, Amy,” he said, smiling, and she had the sudden urge to punch him. How dare he be smiling?! “Calm down, okay. I had a little mishap during a thing with some friends. Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Grayson.”

He held up his hands. “Hey, chill.”

“What happened?”

He grimaced, although he quickly replaced it with a neutral expression. He’d been doing that a lot lately, hiding his actual emotions. She was getting a little sick of it. She was the captain of the police, not a civilian, but for some inexplicable reason he still felt the need to shield her from his problems, as if they weren’t so often also hers. Not that she liked to talk about his vigilante career. If she thought about it too long, she might just go turn them both in. It wasn’t like she approved of vigilantism, but well...Dick was her friend.

That wouldn’t get him off the hook for this, though.

Dick seemed to see the resolve in her eyes and caved with a sigh. “You’re definitely overreacting, but fine. I was with the Titans—”

“The super hero group in New York? You know them?” she interrupted. He looked annoyed, but she couldn’t help it. That was one of the last things she’d expected him to say.

“Yes, I know the Titans.” For some reason, this made him grin. She frowned.

“Well, how could I know that? How do you know them?”

He had never mentioned knowing any superheroes, except Batman, if he counted as one. And she’d kept herself from considering the implications of  _ that  _ too deeply, even after meeting Bruce Wayne himself. Was this a thing? Did all vigilantes know each other? Did they work together? Not that the Titans were technically vigilantes, since they had approval from the state of New York, but that made it even weirder that they would associate with an actual vigilante like Nightwing.

“They’re my best friends,” he said simply.

She stared at him. “You’re being serious right now?”

He looked amused. “Yes.”

Any further questions she had were cut off by a rapid knocking on the front door. Both of their heads whipped towards the entryway of the apartment. Amy’s hand moved to her gun, concealed, under her leather jacket, but Dick made a motion to wait. She frowned, but didn’t pull it out. He strode across the room, grabbing an escrima stick from a hidden panel she couldn’t decipher. He held the stick low at his side, but at the ready, and then cracked the door open. His tall frame blocked out her view of the doorstep, but she saw all the tension drain from his shoulders and he tossed the escrima up to rest on his shoulder casually.

“I was going to electrocute you,” Dick informed his visitor nonchalantly. Amy raised an eyebrow at his back. He stepped aside and she got her first good view of the visitor, a man with a shock of red hair who looked about Dick’s age. He was smiling and she could tell he was the kind of person who smiled a lot.

“I know. That’s why I knocked instead of letting myself in. Should you even be standing?” the man said. She knew he’d spotted her when his whole body went rigid. Interesting. “Hey, uh, you didn’t mention you have company.”

Dick shut the door and then looked over at his two guests. “Oh. Walls, that’s Amy. She knows now, ‘member?”

To her growing surprise, the man (Walls?) nodded in understanding, relaxing. He offered her a friendly smile. “Hi, Captain. I’m Wally West, this asshole’s best friend.” Dick snorted, but didn’t look mad at being referenced as such. Amy decided that she liked this Wally West.

“Nice to meet you.” Then his words from a moment ago caught up with her and she whirled towards Dick. “What did he mean you shouldn’t be standing?”

The dark haired acrobat winced, leaning in his doorway. Her trained eye didn’t miss how he put more pressure on the wall than usual.

“You didn’t tell her?”

Amy blinked. She turned towards Wally, but he suddenly wasn’t there. She whipped around and saw him in Dick’s poorly stocked kitchen area on the other side of the apartment. Somehow, there was a whole assembly line of sandwich ingredients spread in front of him and two finished sandwiches rested on plates.

“What the hell?” she whispered.

“Wally,” Dick groaned.

The redhead looked up. “What?”

“Amy didn’t know who you are,” he replied in aggravation, as if talking to a frustrating toddler.

“Oh. I just figured she knew. Whoops.”

Amy’s eyes widened. “You’re the Flash?”

He bowed with a flourish, a slice of bread still in hand. “At your service. Sorry for just dropping that on you.”

“How do you still have a secret identity?” Dick asked thin air.

Wally winked at his friend. “Too fast to catch. I don’t know why you’re worried, anyways. If you trust her, I most  _ definitely  _ trust her.”

“Just like that?” Amy asked, a furrow between her brow.

“Well, duh. Do you know how many civilians know this guy’s identity? Because I can count ‘em on one hand.”

“I’m not a civilian.”

“To us, you are. Anyone not in the cape club is a civilian. Want a sandwich?” He looked over at Dick, who was still leaning against the wall. “I’m not even giving you the option. Get over here and eat.”

Amy, reeling, trudged over and sat at the island. Wally slid her a sandwich and she took a bite out of habit, not tasting any of it. This was surreal. She was in a vigilante’s run-down Bludhaven apartment having lunch with said vigilante and a  _ member of the Justice League  _ and they were treating this as if it were an average Tuesday.

“Why are you here, Walls?” Dick asked flatly, not moving.

“Is that any way to talk to your best friend? C’mon, I’m not  _ Roy.”  _

Amy had no clue who Roy was.

Dick’s eyes were hard. “Wally.”

The Flash sighed. “Okay, okay, fine. I didn’t want to say anything in front of your captain here. No offense.”

“None taken.” She wasn’t even sure she could be offended right now. None of this felt real.

“Anyways, I’m here because there might be a situation involving aliens down in Arizona. Donna has everything under control right now, but if she sends the signal, I’m running us down to provide back-up.”

Great. And now aliens were involved. Amy was now certain that this was real, because she was not an imaginative person and she’d never even dream something this strange.

“I told her not to go without me,” Dick said, frowning.

“Well, it couldn’t exactly wait.”

“I could have come with.”

Wally snorted. “Sure. I know that you actively try to ruin your physical health at every available opportunity, but there is no way any of us would let you on this mission after getting stabbed.”

Amy jumped to her feet. “You were stabbed?!”

Dick’s head banged back against the wall. “I’m fine.”

“He’s not,” Wally chirped. “You should really tell your boss when you get stabbed. Isn’t that what you’re always telling us, O Fearless Leader?”

She blinked and then Wally was suddenly at Dick’s side, gently tugging up his shirt to expose a large white bandage above his hip. Violently red blood had bled through at some parts. Dick slapped his hands away and his shirt fell. Wally stepped back, calm in the face of Dick’s irritation.

“You should go change the bandage. And check if you popped a stitch.”

Dick looked like he was going to snap something, but he froze, staring at Wally’s solemn face. After a tense moment, he nodded, jerking his head away. He trudged towards his bedroom without a word. Wally sighed and raked a hand through his hair, then turned and gave her a fake smile.

“Men, huh?”

“You’re really good with him,” she said quietly, running her finger over the cold marble counter. “He got shot on the force once. He was such a pain to deal with. He kept acting like he was immortal. I can’t count how many times he popped his stitches.”

“Yeah. It’s his most frustrating trait, and trust me, he has a few.” The redhead popped onto the barstool next to her, propping his head on one hand.

“You’ve known him a long time, haven’t you?” It was hard to miss. The way they spoke some familiarly and were so comfortable with each other, exchanging gentle concern and barbed teasing in the same conversation.

Wally laughed, more of a movement of his shoulders than a sound. “I’ve known him longer than just about anyone, except Bruce. We met when we were...ten? Eleven? God, it feels like forever ago. And then we were Teen Titans together. The originals, not those new kids running around San Francisco. We’ve gone through everything together. It's weird, now, not being on the Titans with him, but, well, the Justice League needs me.”

“Dick is on the Titans?”

He snorted. “Does he tell you anything?”

“Usually I try not to ask, but right now I’m more interested in answers than more mystery.”

He gave her an appraising look. “I see why Dick likes you. You even kind of sound the same. And to answer your question, Dick is the  _ leader  _ of the Titans. Has been since he was in short pants and still is.”

Her eyes widened. “He’s the  _ leader?” _

“Oh, yeah. He’s the best of the best of the best. Seriously. There’s no one I trust more to lead me, and I know that most of the superhero community would agree with me. He led the first two teams of Teen Titans, he led the Outsiders, and now he’s leading the Titans. Everyone knows he’s going to lead the Justice League one day.”

She blinked at him. There was no way. Nightwing was a local vigilante, a human who was trying to do good. He wasn’t a god or even a meta. He was Dick. He was annoying and funny and reckless. He was both really secretive and too trusting. And now Wally was telling her that he was some kind of— of general or something for superheroes. There was no way.

“I thought… I thought Wonder Girl led the Titans,” she said.

“Donna’s just the public face. Dick doesn’t want to be public, so he sticks to the behind the scenes, but make no mistake, he runs things. When Donna gives public addresses, he feeds her lines through an earpiece. We came up with that system when we were fourteen.”

“He never even mentioned that he knew all of you. Just Batman.”

“He’s good at compartmentalizing himself,” Wally remarked. There was a slightly angry edge to his words, but she could tell it was directed at Dick.

“So why don’t you and Wonder Girl and all these heroes you say he leads help him with Bludhaven? Why not just catch Blockbuster yourselves?”

Wally sighed and she could tell she’d hit a sore spot. A raincloud passed over his face as he peeked at the closed bedroom door, then back to her.

“We’ve all offered. But, like Batman, he’s a bit territorial. Consider it professional courtesy that we all respect his right to do things here how he likes, even if we wish he’d ask us to help him.”

“You guys have territories?”

The speedster laughed suddenly, leaning back against the counter. “Yeah, kinda. That way we’re not all falling on top of each other, messing things up. Imagine if every hero tried to operate in New York. It’d be madness.”

Then he was on his feet, staring across the room. She turned around to see Dick emerging, a scowl on his face. He came right over, sat on the island counter next to where Wally’s elbows were, grabbed a sandwich right off the Flash’s plate, and then bit into it aggressively. Wally just smirked up at him in amusement.

“Hey, sunshine. How’re the stitches?”

“Not torn.” He looked over at Amy. “Don’t believe anything he told you.”

“Aw, I was just giving her the rundown of the Titans' history. However,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at Amy, “if you ever want to hear the  _ good  _ stories about Dickie, I am more than happy to supply them.”

A small double chime sounded. Wally checked his watch and then smiled at them. “That’s the all clear from Donna. I’d love to stay, but I’m meeting Linda for dinner in ten. Nice to meet you, Amy.”

He was gone, only an updraft to signify he’d been there. Dick continued eating his sandwich calmly, no doubt used to superpowers. Amy, however, dropped her head into her hands.

“Grayson, nothing is ever normal with you.”

“Pretty much.”


	5. Chapter 5

“There you are!” Amy said, slipping through the crowd to reach Dick as he stepped through her front door. “You’re late!”

He gave her a stupidly cheerful grin on his stupidly handsome face. “Sorry, sorry. There was a situation up in Gotham.”

Her brow furrowed. “What kind of situation?”

He tilted his head in confusion, then laughed as he realized what she was implying. “Oh, no, nothing like that. I was visiting Bruce last night, and I ended up staying over, and then this morning Tim let slip that he was getting an award at school for academics and it turned into a whole thing.”

A passing cop clapped Dick on the shoulder in greeting and a few more people called out hellos. The living room was crowded with Amy’s friends, family, and their children, who darted between the legs of all the adults. A banner hanging over the doorway to the kitchen proclaimed “Happy Birthday Amy!” and the chatter of her guests filled the room and spilled into the backyard. Amy was glad everyone was here, but she couldn’t deny that she’d been waiting for Dick. He’d promised to come, and he could use the break. Aside from his vigilante activity, he’d had overtime on patrol this week and she’d seen on the news that the Titans had been active in New York, too. She knew he must have gone with them, because, oh yeah, he was secretly their leader. She still wasn’t used to that.

Dick peeked over his shoulder and then turned back to Amy. “Oh, whoops. Do you mind if I bring my guest straight to the backyard? She can’t come into the house.”

“What? Why can’t she…?” Amy nudged him aside and peeked out the front door.

A beautiful woman with fiery red hair was waiting by Dick’s flashy red sports car right out front. And she was sitting in a wheelchair. Ah.

“Yeah, of course, there’s a gate past the garage.”

He flashed her a grin. “Thanks. I’ll go tell Babs. I know you have a lot of guests, but I’d really like to introduce you two.”

“I’ll meet you out back in a few minutes,” she promised.

“Awesome! Oh, and happy birthday. I forgot to say that. And give you this.” He pulled a small box out of her coat and held it out. It was wrapped in light blue paper with a perfect golden bow.

“You didn’t have to get me anything.” She accepted the small box anyways.

He waved a hand, already backing out on the porch, angled towards the woman in the wheelchair. “Of course I did. You deserve it.”

He jumped off the porch and hurried over to his guest, leaving Amy standing in the doorway of her home with the small present in her hand. Before she could open it, her daughter came running up with a gaggle of friends and then she was busy shuffling them outside, where a piñata was being set up. Once she was finally rid of them, she found herself in the backyard where a whole new crowd of her guests were vying for her attention. She talked and laughed with them for a few minutes, until her husband called for all the children to line up and suddenly all the attention shifted from her to the piñata. She took her chance to slide out of the crowd and catch her breath.

“Not going to try to break the piñata?” a too-amused voice said from behind her.

Amy turned around and found Grayson smirking up at her. He was sitting on the edge of the deck, a beer dangling from one hand and his guest seated on his lap, her arms looped around his neck. This close, Amy could tell that the woman was incredibly pretty and her bright red hair was natural, not dyed. She looked to be a little older than Dick, maybe two or three years.

“I’ll leave that to the kids. Which means you can take a turn, Grayson.”

He pouted, but the woman laughed, grinning up at Amy. “Don’t let him near that piñata. He’s too competitive, he’ll break it open in one go.” She held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Barbara Gordon. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure to meet you, too,” Amy said, shaking her hand. Barbara had a surprising amount of calluses on her hand, almost as many as Dick.

Her green eyes narrowed. “Dick hasn’t mentioned me to you, has he?”

“Sorry, no.”

Thankfully, she didn’t seem upset. She just turned to Dick, who was looking apologetic, and sighed. “It’s fine. I know better than to expect Dick to actually warn someone he’s bringing a stranger to their birthday party.”

“Hey, Amy said I could bring a guest!” he said in his defense.

“I did.” She’d thought he’d either bring his brother Tim or maybe one of his Titan friends (God, she wanted to meet Wonder Girl), but she should have expected that Dick would completely surpass her expectations.

“Hey, Grayson! Come help me out!” Jim called from across the yard, where a verifiable swarm of children were crowding him, each begging to be the first one to get a whack at the piñata.

Dick rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “I better go save your husband.” He pressed a kiss to Barbara’s forehead, then lifted her easily by the waist and set her back down on the deck. He made his way across the yard and then was put in charge of the crowd control. Amy and Barbara laughed as he was swarmed by eager kids.

“He’s so good with kids,” Amy said to the lovely redhead.

“Don’t sound so surprised. I know you’ve met Tim, and I can’t count how many young teens he’s mentored on his team.”

Interesting. Barbara knew about the Titans. That either put her in the cape category or in the small, select group of civilians in the know, which she had accidentally found herself a part of. Based on the wheelchair, either Barbara was a civilian or something had gone very wrong with her vigilantism.

“I guess. Maybe I just have trouble picturing him as a family man. He’s just so...busy.”

Barbara laughed and took a swig from her beer. “I know what you mean. I stopped pretending he would ever settle down when he ditched the short-shorts for the spandex.”

Amy’s head snapped to her, brow furrowing. “I’m sorry, are you two not dating? I just thought, since he brought you as his guest and, well—”

“I was sitting on his lap?” she finished. Thankfully, she didn’t seem upset, so Amy nodded. “We’re not  _ not  _ dating. It’s...complicated. But we’ve been friends for a long time. We’re just comfortable with each other, I guess. He talks about you a lot, you know.”

Typically, that wasn’t a sentence Amy wanted to hear from her ex-partner’s girlfriend, but she could tell Barbara was being honest, not jealous. Which was intriguing.

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. He admires you a lot, you know. And I want to personally say thank you for keeping him alive. God, I wanted to kill him when he said he was going to be a cop.”

“But, you’re Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, right?” It was coming back to her now. She remembered seeing a story on the news a few years ago about the police commissioner from Gotham’s daughter being shot by the Joker.

“Yeah. I sound hypocritical, huh?” She rolled her eyes and then adjusted her glasses. “I am a huge supporter of the police, and a fan of your amazing work cleaning up the BPD, but Dick...I worry about him. And I was mad he was moving to Bludhaven and he wasn’t giving up his... _ other _ career. He just can’t stop.”

“People change,” Amy said. “When I first started on the force, I never would have imagined myself as a wife and mother. Dick’s young. He might realize this is what he wants.”

Across the yard, the piñata contest was in full swing. Dick was a master at keeping it just out of each of the children before letting them get a whack or two in before whipping it away again. Amy smiled as she saw her husband stopping her blindfolded son from smacking a guest with the foam bat.

“You know Dick’s never lived in a house?” Barbara said suddenly.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he grew up with the circus. He shared a tiny trailer with his parents. Then, when Bruce adopted him, he moved into Wayne Manor. Has he brought you there yet?” Amy shook her head and Barbara snorted. “It’s more like a castle. Then, he lived in college dorms for like, a semester, before moving into Titans Tower. I know he had an apartment in New York and he still has one in Gotham. And of course, now he has that shitty little place in Bludhaven.”

“It is pretty shitty.”

Barbara laughed. “I know! Bruce and Tim were dumbstruck when they found out where he's staying. But my point is, Dick has never lived somewhere like this,” she said, gesturing around, at the backyard and the house. “The white picket fence life might be what we all wish for him, but he’ll never do it. He can’t. He only knows how to be in the thick of action.”

“And what about you? Is this what you want? White-picket and all that?”

Maybe it was a kind of forward thing to ask considering they’d only met a few minutes ago, but Amy felt oddly comfortable talking to her. It was different than meeting Wally, the only other friend of Dick’s she’d met so far, because he had been the Flash. A metahuman, a member of the Justice League. Barbara was just Barbara. Human, smart, funny, and deeply attached to Dick. Amy related. The kid grew on people like a fungus.

“I used to think so,” she admitted, setting aside her empty beer bottle. “Now...I’m not sure. Maybe someday, but I think that day is pretty far off.”

The two women fell quiet for a moment. An old college friend of Amy’s came by briefly. They only had time to hug before her friend was being dragged away by her kid towards the piñata. Amy sat back down next to Barbara.

“Give me your phone,” the redhead ordered.

“Um, why?”

“I’m going to give you my number. That way if you ever need to tattle on Dick or just need to rant or something, you can call me.”

Amy pulled out her phone and handed it over. She remembered belatedly that she hadn’t unlocked it, but that didn’t seem to deter Barbara.

“As long as that promise goes both ways,” Amy added. “I’m here if you need someone to rant to. Doesn’t even need to be about Dick.”

Barbara gave her a large smile and handed her phone back. “I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship, Captain Rohrbach.”

“I think so, Ms. Gordon.”

Later that night, when all the guests had finally left and Amy had cleaned up her house as much as she could handle, she remembered the small present from Dick that she’d slipped in her pocket. She pulled out the small box and undid the gold ribbon before popping off the lid. She pulled out a small bundle wrapped in white paper. She unfolded it to discover that the white paper was actually four tickets to a circus coming to Bludhaven soon, along with a little note in Dick’s quick, neat handwriting that said,  _ For you and your family.  _ She smiled and then jumped when something fell out of the box. She bent down and picked it up.

“Oh, Grayson, you idiot,” she muttered. In her hand rested a golden charm set with a sparkling emerald. Her birthstone and her favorite gem, which she had told him once over six months ago. The charm perfectly matched her wedding ring.

At first, she considered returning the charm, because Dick had clearly spent way too much money on it. Then she remembered that he was A) rich and B) stubborn. Instead, she went to her bedroom to find a chain to slide the charm onto.

She could still lecture him about it later. She wouldn’t want him to think she was getting soft.


	6. Chapter 6

“Good morning, Captain,” Dick said with a cheery smile and a two finger salute, his booted feet kicked up on his desk.

“Feet off the desk, rookie,” she ordered. He rolled his eyes and let his boots fall to the ground with an exaggerated thump. She popped onto his desk and sat where his feet had just been, snagging his coffee and taking a sip.

“Hey!”

She made a face and handed it back to him. “I forgot that you dump an unholy amount of sugar in your coffee. Seriously, you might as well just eat a bunch of sugar cubes.”

“I know,” Gannon Malloy said from the desk next to Dick’s, sharing a commiserating look with Amy. “I can’t believe how fit he is, too, with all the junk he eats. You know he keeps a box of Lucky Charms in our squad car?”

She shuddered. “He did it back when he was my partner, too.”

“I can’t believe we’re discussing my eating habits,” Dick grumbled. “I get enough of this at home. It drives my brothers crazy.”

Amy took a second to process what was wrong with that statement. Wait, _brothers?_ As in plural. Which was weird, because they’d been friends for a while now and she’d never heard him mention having a brother besides Tim. How could she not know about another brother? She knew he was _Nightwing_ for goodness sake, it wasn’t like he really kept secrets from her anymore.

“I thought you only had one brother. That smart kid. Tim, right?” Gannon asked, clearly just as confused as Amy.

Something in Dick’s blue eyes shuttered, turning icy and cold. The buzz of the station seemed to fade to just the three of them.

“I, uh, I had another brother. He died. His name was Jason.”

Oh. _Oh, crap._ Gannon was panicking, totally unprepared for the personal and painful answer Dick had just offered up and Dick himself looked fragile; he was wound tight, so tight, like if Amy poked him he’d fall to the ground and shatter. She’d never seen him look like this, not even when he hadn’t slept for days or came into work still healing from a gunshot wound.

She’d never heard of Jason, but she could tell Dick had loved him, deeply and completely. She could see it in the tense lines of his shoulders and the blank look in his eyes. There was something more than grief there. Almost guilt, like she saw in the eyes of old cops sometimes. 

There were so many questions she had and so many things she wanted to say, but not here, in their office where anyone can hear. So she kept it simple.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“So am I. I didn’t know—” Gannon added, a desperate pitch to his words.

Then, like magic, like the sun breaking out from behind the clouds, Dick smiled at Gannon, his usual charm back in place.

“Don’t worry, I know you didn’t know,” Dick assured him and Gannon smiled gratefully. He raked a hand through his dark hair and let out a heavy sigh, but the fragility of a moment ago was gone. “I didn’t mean to just drop that on you guys. He just used to give me so much shit for my diet. He was kind of a foodie, honestly, and it drove him crazy whenever he hung out at my place that I never had anything in my kitchen. It just kind of slipped out.”

“He sounds like a good guy,” Gannon said, obviously trying to play along with Dick’s abrupt change in tone.

Dick’s lips tilted up in what was almost a smile. “He was a very opinionated kid, for sure.”

Dick leaned forward and tapped one of the two dozen pictures he had pinned to the cubicle wall behind his desk. Amy had examined them in passing before; she knew he had even more pictures in his locker and dozens more in his apartment. All his pictures seemed to be him locked in some sort of embrace with various people. Some of them she recognized, such as one of him with Bruce, Alfred the butler, and Tim at a courthouse, and another of Dick and Wally at the Statue of Liberty. But the majority of the people she didn’t know.

The one he pointed out was a simple shot of Dick, looking about three or four years younger than he was now, with his arm tossed around the shoulder of a boy who seemed to be about fifteen. The kid (Jason, he’d said) was skinny, short, and had a shock of black hair. They were both smiling broadly and seemed to be camping or hiking.

Jason didn’t look much older than Amy’s oldest child. And he was dead.

“He hated police, though,” Dick said, in that too perfectly even voice with that too perfectly even smile. “I can just imagine what he’d say about my badge.”

“What’d he have against the police?” Gannon asked. Amy couldn’t find her voice. Not that she knew what she wanted to say.

“He was raised in a rough neighborhood where they didn’t trust the cops. Then he was on the streets for awhile, which didn’t help his opinion. Some of the cops in Gotham...Commissioner Gordon does his best, but it’s a big city. Jay never really could forget any of that, even after B adopted him.” He shrugged.

“Gannon, could you go remind Gonzalez that there’s a meeting at two? I forgot to send him an email.” Amy didn’t care if it was extremely transparent that she wanted to talk to Dick alone.

Gannon leapt up, glad for the excuse to escape. “No problem, Captain.”

Dick and Amy regarded each other as Gannon disappeared into the throng of the station. The ranks were finally back up to their usual number after months of vigorous recruiting following the expulsion of all the corrupt cops. Which meant there were a lot of rookies who were always hanging around. Luckily, they knew to give their captain space unless called upon.

“Why’d you want Gannon gone?” Dick asked after a long minute.

She shrugged, because that was honest enough. He nodded like that had made any sense. Maybe it did. Dick was always good at reading her, even when she wasn’t sure what gave her away. Knowing him, he could probably figure out what she was thinking from how fast she blinked and what earrings she’d chosen to wear that day.

She kept her voice soft, just for his ears, but sincere, direct. She couldn’t let him shrug her off, not when he was so clearly in pain. “I really am sorry about your brother. But you don’t need to pretend to be okay to make Gannon and me feel comfortable.”

There it was. The thing that had been on the tip of her tongue since that fake smile slid onto his face. She knew he was a good actor, knew he had to be to live the double (triple?) life he lived, but this was the first time she’d seen him use those skills to hide his feelings, not his secret.

Dick’s shoulders slumped. “Was I that obvious?”

“No. But I know you better than that.”

A flash of a grin, weaker than before. “Yeah, you do. I think you’re the only one who sees through me besides my friends from New York.”

She assumed he was talking about the Titans, who were his closest and oldest friends. Which meant he was ranking her among them. Wow. That was flattering, considering that half the time she felt like she barely understood what he was talking about.

“I think Jason would have liked you, even though you’re a cop,” Dick added quietly, his eyes on the picture of the two of them. Amy wondered how long that picture had been there. Did he really stare at his dead brother’s face everyday when it was so clearly painful for him? She knew Dick had a penchant to be hard on himself, but this was borderline masochistic.

“We don’t have to talk about him if you don’t want to,” she offered, hands braced on his desk. “I would understand.”

He shook his head. “Thank you, but...I need to, I think. Losing him was hard, for my whole family, and I— Let’s just say that I _really_ didn’t react well. I couldn’t say his name or talk about him or look at pictures for months. But, when Tim came, he really wanted to know Jason. They never got the chance to meet. And you know I can’t say no to Tim, so I’d tell him stuff. Wally and Babs say it’s good to talk about him. I don’t know if I believe them, but I’m trying. I can’t just let Jason be forgotten, and Bruce sure as hell isn’t talking about him.”

“Is that why you moved to Bludhaven? Because of Jason?”

He shrugged, his eyes hovering somewhere to the left of Amy’s head. “Partially. Maybe. I don’t know. At the time, things between me and B were really bad, and a lot of that did have to do with Jason. But I also thought I could help this place. You know, in uniform.”

And not the uniform he was currently filling out so nicely. Amy felt like all the missing pieces were sliding into place. It wasn’t just a fight with his dad that had sent him fleeing across the bay, it was the ghost of his brother. Considering how deeply Dick cared about every person on the planet, she could only imagine how sharply he’d felt the loss of his baby brother. Any sadness she’d glimpsed in him today was only a drop in an ocean compared to what she knew had to be within him.

“Well, I’m here whenever you need to talk.”

His eyes returned to his face, along with a genuine smile, the kind that made him look like he was glowing. “Thanks, Amy. I know.”

She hopped off his desk and patted his shoulder. “Of course, Dick. Any other secret family members you want to mention while we’re on the subject?” she asked, a teasing grin on her lips.

He leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. “Well, have I mentioned my sister to you yet?”

She froze. He had to be joking. But...he was serious. He was laughing, but it was at her, not at his own joke. Oh God. Why couldn’t she ever have a normal conversation with Dick Grayson?

 _Probably because he’s Dick Grayson,_ her traitorous mind whispered back.

“You have a sister?”

“Her name’s Cassandra. I’ll introduce you two soon.”

“Yeah, sure. That’d be nice,” Amy said hollowly, still stunned.

“You’ll like her,” he promised. “She’s the only one in my family who isn’t reckless.”

“Grayson, I have a feeling our definitions of reckless are very different.”


End file.
